Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Months ago, Yu Aoi collaborated with Japanese fashion label Journal Standard and launched a special collection. As regular readers will know, Yu Aoi is the favourite actress of many mori girls. The collection showcases her personal style--gentle, quirky, but never cloying or overly sweet.

Tshirt, lace collar and rolled-up chinos. An unexpected pairing, but somehow the effect is very nice.

This is my favourite item in the collection. What a glorious dress!

This translucent lace top worn with checked pants gives us a boyish take on a usually ultra-feminine material.

This orange jumpsuit with beaded belt is very spunky.

Cuffed boyfriend jeans in a variety of candy colours. Love this look!

While this collection may not be for everyone, I love how Yu Aoi is taking risks and lending a unique touch to the clothes and styling. Can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Depending on where you live, there may be organisations around you collecting donations for water, food, clothes, etc. You may even have a chance to volunteer your time. However, I'm going to focus on donating money because I'm sure every one of us in every country will have a chance to help out in that way.

There are many avenues for donation. However, it would be good to check that you're donating to a legitimate organisation, what proportion of the money spent is actually donated, and how they plan to use the money to help out. No use purchasing an expensive product you don't really like if they'll be donating only 10% of what they receive.

For most people outside of Japan, your local chapter of the Red Cross Society would probably one of the best channels for donation. Visit the website of your country's Red Cross Society to find out how to donate. Making a donation is easy and should involve nothing more than mailing a cheque or making a trip to their offices.

Just a few weeks ago, I was feeling down because I felt like I always seemed to be running out of money. I just never seemed to have enough money left over at the end of the month to buy any of the nice clothes I wanted or to eat at fancy restaurants.

The recent disaster really put things into perspective for me and made me realise how small my own problems were. It also reminded me that it's nice to live a bit more simply. If you buy one less dress every month, or take the bus/train when you could have taken a taxi, or skip your manicure, or pack lunch for two days, or borrow that book from the library instead of buying it, and then you donate that amount of money you would otherwise have spent, you'll find that it's actually really easy to help out in a small way even if you're not feeling rich.

Recently I went for a manicure for the first time in years and I immediately regretted it. The polish chipped after just one day! And the whole process cost me enough to buy 3-6 decent meals. So I've told myself to be more careful with how I part with my money. There are always people who need it more.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Just a quick post to share some pictures of Yu Aoi in the November 2011 issue of Japanese magazine Jille. The theme of the photoshoot is boy's style, and the baggy layers are quite reminiscent of mori girl style. She carries off the boyish clothing perfectly. There's something about her. I would never use the word "girly" on her, yet her face radiates feminity in a very earthy, natural way.

About this Blog

The mori girls (森ガール) belong to a Japanese subculture. 'Mori' means forest in Japanese, and mori girls look like fairytale forest wanderers in their loose dresses, vintage prints and quaint accessories. Mori girls choose to live their lives on their own terms, stopping to appreciate the little things that others overlook amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life. This blog hopes to give you a little slice of mori girl life.